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Bang.
Yu Hong took off his reinforced suit and threw it to the ground. The alloy plate on the arm section was severely deford.
The deformation had also left a bruise on his forearm.
“Strong enough!” Yu Hong cursed under his breath. This was the first ti he had encountered such a ferocious monster—one that wasn’t even afraid of light and attacked during the day.
Compared to the insects of the Blood Tide, which feared sunlight, this strange bird’s lethality and threat level were on an entirely different scale.
He quickly applied so iodine to his wounds, then half-leaned against the wall, exhaling deeply.
Looking at the wooden door, which now had a gaping hole in it, he could only feel helpless.
“I hope nothing happens tonight… wait, what about the Luminous Stone Grass!?”
He suddenly rembered. If anything had happened to the Luminous Stone Grass in the yard, Wei Shanshan and her mother would be in danger. They were his only hope for an energy source—until the rescue team arrived, he had to ensure their safety.
Yu Hong got up, walked to the doorway, and peeked through the hole.
The door of the wooden hut outside was half open. Qiu Yanxi stood there, staring blankly at the ss in the yard, while her daughter, Wei Shanshan, was gathering dry firewood in a corner of the yard. It was unclear if she was planning to light a fire for warmth.
Although one was still, and the other was moving, their faces were equally pale and lifeless.
Suddenly, Qiu Yanxi turned her head and saw Yu Hong watching them.
A flicker of light appeared in her dull eyes, and she forced a stiff smile in his direction.
“What a hassle.” Yu Hong sighed as he examined the state of the Luminous Stone Grass in the yard.
Much of the central area had been trampled and crushed during his fight with the strange bird. In so spots, even the black soil beneath had been overturned, leaving the place in ruins.
Yu Hong took note of the damage, then went back inside, retrieved a few Rune arrays, and grabbed a Luminous Stone Mat before stepping outside.
The mont he walked out, the mother and daughter instinctively huddled closer together, standing stiffly without daring to move, waiting for him to speak.
Yu Hong dropped the runes and the Luminous Stone Mat onto the ground beside the wooden hut.
“Be careful at night. Keep these as backup.”
“Y-Yes!” Qiu Yanxi quickly responded nervously.
She had initially planned to bargain for the secret thod Yu Hong used to repel the Blood Tide insects, but after witnessing the battle just now…
Yu Hong said nothing more and turned back inside. Soon, the wooden door closed, and he hamred a wooden plank over the hole to temporarily cover it.
Silence returned.
Qiu Yanxi remained standing for a mont. Only after confirming that Yu Hong had no further actions did she let out a deep breath.
“Shanshan, co here.” She called her daughter.
The two of them entered the wooden hut, picking up the items Yu Hong had left behind. Having these supplies gave them a stronger sense of security—certainly more than they would have gotten at the post office. ṙÄ𐌽𝐨BЁᶊ
“That man… that Mr. Yu… he must be a Luminous Stone-enhanced human!” Qiu Yanxi lowered her voice and warned her daughter. “When you talk to him, be careful and go along with whatever he says. Enhanced humans have unpredictable tempers, and they’re ntally unstable. You can never guess what they’re thinking. Just do what he says and don’t ask questions!”
“W-What do you an by ‘just do what he says’?” Wei Shanshan was already terrified. The battle earlier had left her legs weak, and now, her mother’s warning made her even more anxious. Her face turned pale, and cold sweat broke out on her back.
“It ans if he tells us to do sothing, we do it. No questions, no opinions. We just hold out until the rescue team arrives.” Qiu Yanxi spoke in a low voice, her expression heavy.
“The monsters outside are getting stronger. Now they even attack in broad daylight. If sothing happens to the rescue team, we might have no choice but to rely on Mr. Yu to survive. Pay attention to what he needs. If we can help, we should—like gathering firewood or repairing the walls.”
“Okay!” Wei Shanshan nodded quickly.
Qiu Yanxi exhaled slowly.
“Still, even though things are getting more dangerous, if we stay close to Mr. Yu, we’ll be far safer than most people… That explosion earlier—I wonder what happened at the post office.”
Her heart pounded at the thought of the post office. The people there, especially Song Mingshi, who had once taken advantage of them, might be in trouble. If so, she felt a twisted sense of relief and even a bit of satisfaction.
Thinking back to Yu Hong’s battle with the strange bird, she compared it to previous fights she had seen among enhanced humans. Even among them, she had never seen anyone fight at that level.
“This Mr. Yu… he must be one of the strongest among the enhanced humans. No wonder he dares to live alone in the wilderness.”
“Mom… do you think we’ll make it back alive?” Wei Shanshan asked softly.
“We will. We have to.” Determination flashed in Qiu Yanxi’s eyes.
*
*
*
After the strange bird attack, there was no Blood Tide that night, and the Ghostly shadows that usually lurked around seed to have lessened.
Yu Hong kept his communicator on all night, but the post office remained silent.
He barely got any sleep, constantly worrying that the hole in the door might let sothing slip in or that sothing might happen to the mother and daughter outside. The damage to the Luminous Stone Grass also weighed on his mind.
But nothing happened.
The next morning, Yu Hong kept his eyes on the countdown tir in the basent.
As the numbers ticked down, anticipation filled his heart.
He suddenly rembered—although he had requested for the structure’s appearance to remain unchanged, the large hole in the door still needed to be covered to avoid suspicion.
After a mont’s thought, he grabbed so tools and wooden boards and went outside to work on the door, hamring away.
While working, he noticed Qiu Yanxi and Wei Shanshan in the yard, picking up stones from the damaged wall and stacking them back in place.
They had sohow found sand and water to mix into a grayish cent-like paste, using it to seal the gaps in the wall.
They had also gathered a large pile of firewood, enough to last a long ti.
Yu Hong nodded in approval at their efforts.
“Mr. Yu, is there any news from the post office’s support team?” Qiu Yanxi cautiously stepped forward to ask, seeing that he was in a relatively good mood.
“No contact yet.” Yu Hong shook his head. “Sothing seems to have happened over there. The situation outside the yard is also bad—Red Value is high, aning danger could appear at any mont. Without knowing what’s going on, I don’t dare to check it out recklessly.”
“When we went out to collect firewood, we didn’t dare go too far. It felt like sothing was watching us the entire ti.” Qiu Yanxi, who had regained so color in her face, spoke more carefully now. She had learned to keep unnecessary thoughts to herself.
“You have enough firewood now. Go out less from now on.” Yu Hong thought for a mont, then turned back inside. After a short while, he ca back out and handed them a solar-powered light set, including a connected bulb.
“This charges during the day and provides light at night. It can handle normal Blood Tide insects. Use it carefully.” He instructed.
“Thank you! Thank you, Mr. Yu!” Qiu Yanxi was overjoyed and repeatedly expressed her gratitude. “If there’s anything we can do, just let us know—like cleaning, crafting small tools, sewing—anything! We’ll do our best!”
“Water is limited, so just manage for now.” Yu Hong was satisfied with their attitude. In desperate situations, people who truly wanted to survive would contribute however they could.
He returned to the cave and shut the door.
Quickly, he descended into the basent. Only two minutes remained on the countdown.
For the last two minutes, Yu Hong simply sat cross-legged on the ground, waiting silently.
Ti ticked away.
Finally—
The countdown hit zero.
Hiss!!
In an instant, the entire cave and stone walls flickered slightly, as if reality had montarily blurred.
Less than a second later, everything returned to clarity.
Silence.
But Yu Hong imdiately noticed the difference.
He reached out and touched the ground.
The rough stone texture was gone, replaced by a smooth, polished surface.
Although no additional materials had been applied, the floor was now far more even. Its density seed to have increased, making it slightly harder than before—an indication of minor structural reinforcent.
Standing up with a rustle, Yu Hong ran his hand along the walls.
The walls had been uniformly smoothed and hardened.
“This should be a basic reinforcent against impacts.” He felt satisfied, slowly circling the basent. But he didn’t see the additional chamber he had requested during the reinforcent process.
“If it’s not here, then it must be on the other side.”
He followed the steps back up to the cave.
Sure enough, in a symtrical position across the cave, a new entrance to another underground chamber had appeared.
With the sa gray-white stone steps, he quickly descended.
Below was a space identical in size to the first basent. Its inner walls had also been reinforced, but apart from that, the space was completely empty.
Even so, Yu Hong was quite pleased.
With his hands behind his back, he carefully inspected the new chamber, ensuring there were no issues before returning to the cave’s first level. Finally, he turned his attention to the reinforced main entrance.
The door, previously damaged and full of holes, had been completely restored.
Its appearance remained unchanged, but the material’s density had visibly increased.
Yu Hong placed his hand on it.
A cool, tallic sensation t his fingertips.
He pulled back the repaired cover panel. It was no longer wooden—it had been replaced with a silver-black tal plate.
Clang.
Behind the panel was the observation window.
Previously, it had been covered with a wire sh. But now, what greeted him was a thick, transparent layer of glass.
Yu Hong knocked on it.
Thud, thud.
Solid. Dull.
He nodded in satisfaction.
“The strength is much higher than before. Not bad!”
Then, he closed the window and inspected where the door connected to the stone wall.
Previously, the door had been reinforced with nurous nails and fasteners. Now, all of them had disappeared—replaced by a seamless transition, as if the door and stone had fused together like cent.
Yu Hong lightly struck the door with his elbow.
Not even the slightest tremor. It was incredibly sturdy.
“This is great. The strength has increased by a whole level!”
Looking at the brand-new, high-strength door, an overwhelming sense of security washed over him.
The nightmare of being pierced by that strange bird was now much less likely to repeat itself.
After confirming that the entire safehouse’s reinforcent had exceeded his expectations, Yu Hong sat down, feeling content.
Now, he could start planning the next upgrade.
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